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The lessons that have emerged from Ron Johnson’s tumultuous 17-month tenure at JC Penney are of great relevance to all of us -- any company, any management team, leaders who need to innovate their business model. All of us.

After months of upheaval, of confrontation between Johnson and his board, his senior staff, JC Penney shoppers, and even Macy’s (i.e., the legal battle over Martha Stewart), it should have been a relief to see him go. In some ways it was. And yet, in the end it was sad.

After all, here was a man with extraordinary credentials who was trying to turn around what had become a very ordinary retailer. When Johnson arrived from Apple, JC Penney had fallen far from the days when it honorably served Middle America. It had become a dark, over-stuffed, over-promoted, under-staffed retailer that depended on the generosity of long-suffering shoppers who still shopped there for everyday basics and everyday coupons.

Johnson’s vision was to create a 21st century department store that offered a new style of shopping experience -- branded shops, organized around a modern, technology-enhanced town square, with everyday low prices. Simple, clean, clear. The concept felt interesting, relevant, sufficiently differentiated to stand out.

However, Johnson’s was a phoenix-style strategy: burn it down and build from scratch. In his view the decline had been going on too long to merely renovate. But his highly theoretical approach allowed no room for current JC Penney shoppers and inferred an attitude of “If we build it and they don’t come, so be it. We’ll find others who will.”

It was clear 12 months into the turnaround that Johnson’s strategy couldn’t succeed. He had so swiftly alienated core shoppers with his crash and burn approach that they walked out the door in droves. Testing, learning, refining, then rolling out -- a critical formula in successful retail -- was antithetical to his Apple way of doing things (it was old world retail, not new). He bullied his management team, including pushing one of the smartest retail marketers in the world, Michael Francis, out of the company.

First and foremost, however, Johnson made the fatal mistake of ignoring his shoppers. And that's unforgivable.

All of this said, Johnson did one truly amazing thing: in a mere 17 months, he redesigned 1,000 JC Penney stores, filled them with exciting brands such as Joe Fresh, Liz Claiborne, Levi’s, Izod, and presented the new JCP as a fashionable everyday place to shop. But, oh dear, at what cost?

As the retail landscape changes so quickly and innovation is so crucial for growth many may be tempted to use Johnson’s example as an excuse not to be bold, an excuse to be timid. And that should not, cannot, be.

There are many examples of retail innovation where companies worked to propel their businesses. Not one of them was simple or easy. All were highly risky.

A decade ago, Sephora, the now successful specialty beauty retailer struggled mightily in the US. Shoppers loved the concept of a new democratic-style multi-brand beauty store without all the heavy-handed trappings of department stores. But Sephora struggled: to attract the brand names it wanted; to figure out the right real estate strategy, and to validate its position between mass and prestige retailers. And yet, ultimately it did by rethinking the execution of its concept.

Pulling back from widespread store expansion, Sephora focused on more selective distribution, began to incubate unique independent brands, and invested in Sephora.com and Beauty Insiders loyalty initiative. It found unique ways to address its problems while always – always – keeping its shoppers (“guests”) in its sights.

That’s only one example: There are Amazon’s early days when the company spent loads of money working to get its concept right, to get beyond its offer of books, music and movies, to become the ubiquitous juggernaut it is today. At every point Jeff Bezos was challenged for his ego, his vision, and his bulldogedness. (Sound familiar?)

There’s the turnaround of Duane Reade drug stores in NYC. A tightrope walk if ever there was one. And yet highly successful. So much so that Walgreens, the largest US drug store retailer, bought the company.

What made each one of these successful was their willingness to let shoppers be their beacon for change. Not to dismiss them, but rather to understand them. That’s what Johnson did not do.

In the end, for all of us, innovation is essential. We cannot let the Penney experience be an excuse not to be bold. Innovation -- real, substantial, meaningful -- must be part of our everyday strategy.

But here’s the key: we cannot, must not, lose sight of our shoppers in everything we do. Once we do that, there is very little chance of long-term success. As we always say, “If you follow the shopper, you will see the future.”